Race to the Edge: Edge of Insanity
by RushMP
Summary: Hiccup always took loss so well, but when it's to a madman Dragon Hunter, things get a little shifty. Will our hero save the day? Or will he go down a path of darkness that will destroy the riders? (Set immediately after season 2 of Race to the Edge)
1. Now What?

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Hiccup screamed in rage.

He had never had anyone make him look like such a fool. Gods what did the other riders think? Would Hiccup be able to lead them back to victory? Would he be able to lead them at all? Would the riders let him?

"Hiccup," Astrid started, "what's our next mo-"

"Back to the Edge" Hiccup interrupted.

"What?" The other riders dismayed.

"Hiccup, we aren't gonna challenge those Hunters?" Snotlout said dumbfounded.

"What? So they can beat us again and again? No, we need to go back and think EVERYTHING through." Hiccup told the rider sternly.

"Uh, Hiccup, not to be the downer here, but there's not much of an Edge to go back to." Fishlegs meekly stated.

"Then we'll rebuild it. We go back, and that's FINAL!" Hiccup ordered, ending all other arguments.

The flight back to the Edge was uncomfortable to say the least. Even the twins ceased their fighting to go over what had just happened. Not only were they defeated spectacularly, but Hiccup of all people was mad about it. The level-headed leader of their group, brought to his wit's end.

They arrived shortly after midnight.

"Aw man, look at how much work we have to do!" Snotlout complained.

"Ok, look, just clean up your huts, and get a good night's sleep. I think we all need it. We'll work on rebuilding tomorrow." Hiccup sighed and took off to his hut.

"Oh boy, you know how long it took the first time? Then with the Rumblehorn attacks, and now this? This place is more work than necessary." Tuffnut noted.

"Guys," Astrid began, "Just do what he said. It's been a long day, especially for Hiccup. We should really try to help him out."

"Yeah," Fishlegs agreed, "Hiccup doesn't seem to be taking this too well. And I need to start work on my rock garden as soon as possible." To which Fishlegs left on his Gronkle

"Yeah, yeah, you and your relaxation. I'm going to bed, don't wake me up in the morning." Snotlout said as he too left.

"Alright, I guess we need to get the Boar pit back in commission." Ruffnut noted climbing on Barf.

"Oh yeah, and we need to get the boars back too." Tuff added mounting Belch.

Soon all that was left was Astrid.

"This is bad Stormfly." She said to her dragon. "Hiccup isn't gonna let this go. Something is wrong Stormfly, I don't like it one bit. I guess we'll have to see what happens tomorrow."

 _Back at Hiccup's Hut_

"What a day bud. First I lose the Flightmare, then I lose the Dragon Eye. Now… I'm losing my mind. How could he predict every move without knowing me at all? Am I that predictable?"

He received a knowing growl from his black dragon friend.

"You're right bud." He sighed. "I need to sleep it over I guess. I just hope I can figure it out before the situation gets even worse."

Sleep didn't come easily to Hiccup that night. One nightmare after another, from being captured and tortured, to losing a certain Dragon Rider for good, plagued the poor dragon rider. One thing was for sure: They wouldn't go away easily.

Hiccup groaned after waking from another bout, "What am I gonna do?"

He ran his hands across his weary face. "This blows." He lamented. "I can't believe I lost and I can't fix it. This is one of the worst case scenarios."

He peered over at his sleeping Night Fury.

 _At least one of us will have their head in the game_ Hiccup thought.

"I guess I can't think with no hours of sleep." He muttered. "Just gotta keep trying."

As the one legged dragon rider faded into subconsciousness, a black dragon opened one eye carefully.

Toothless could sense Hiccup's restlessness. He knew the events in the prior hours had done something that disturbed Hiccup greatly. Nothing had made Hiccup more upset before, sure having Astrid go missing affected Hiccup, but this was different. Regardless of what happened, or what will happen, Toothless promised himself that he would stay with Hiccup until the end.

Toothless closed his eye when he heard Hiccup's breathing slow down. Best they both be well rested. Knowing Hiccup, his plan to fix this would be exhausting to say the least.

 _Astrid's Hut_

"What a day girl." Astrid commented to her preening dragon. "I'm worried about Hiccup. These kind of things usually don't bother him as much. Heck, we even got the Flightmare freed and Heather back, well, freed too I guess."

 _Where DID Heather go?_ Astrid asked herself.

"I guess it doesn't matter now. Like Hiccup said, we should focus on rebuilding the Edge. As long as those Hunters don't have the key, the Dragon Eye is useless."

Something wasn't right though. Why did this bother Hiccup so much after all? He had lost plenty of times, but he always fixed it. Like Astrid said earlier, Hiccup had his friends to help clean up his messes. And it was no different this time. All of the riders were here at the Edge, and could fly out at the command of one brilliant Rider.

"I just wish he wouldn't take it so hard Stormfly. He just thinks that we all cast him aside for everything he does wrong, but we don't. I don't. We need to make sure Hiccup knows this. I want him to know how much we need him around."

Deep inside, Astrid wanted Hiccup to know how much _she_ needed him, but she could never bring herself to say that. She had been born and trained as a warrior. Warriors didn't feel emotions that didn't help them fight, even if the only that helped were anger and rage.

Astrid needed a plan to get Hiccup back in his head. Something that would get Hiccup out of the dumps for sure.

Astrid gasped in excitement, "That's it! I have a plan Stormfly…." but her dragon was already asleep.

 _It'll work, but only if I can get those mutton heads to listen to me_. Astrid thought. _Well, there's no use dwelling on it if I'm too tired to even think tomorrow._

"We got an early day tomorrow Stormfly. Let's get some shut-eye." Astrid told her dragon as she blew out her candle.

"Alright gang, the Dragon Hunter's Island is just up ahead. Remember, out of sight and we dive in from above." Hiccup explained.

"Blah blah blah, Let's go already!" Snotlout said impatiently.

"Take it easy Snotlout, you know our track record against the Hunters." Astrid reminded.

The Dragon riders remained at an altitude where they couldn't be spotted from the ground until they finally reached the island.

"Here we are gang. Now when we go in, we're gonna look for Viggo's tent, then take out the surrounding sentries. That should buy Toothless and me some time to search for the Dragon Eye. If it's not there, we leave as quickly as we came in, NO screwing around." Hiccup ordered.

"Come on, can't we blow up more stuff?" Tuffnut begged.

"Tuff, the longer we stay, the more chance they have of taking you out. You all know how easy they can knock out your dragon. But when we fly in, I will allow minor destruction for maximum distraction." Hiccup stated.

"At least he's letting some blasting go this time." Ruffnut accepted.

"Ok guys, it's time. Remember, fast in, fast out, and PLEASE don't take unnecessary risks." Hiccup reminded.

The riders began their power dives one by one under the cover of night, with Hiccup following last due to Toothless' incredible dive bombing ability. Even with the aerodynamic capabilities of the dragons, it still took a couple of seconds before they broke the cloud cover onto the Hunter Base. Each rider took a separate direction from the center, shooting off as many fireballs as they could to clear a way for Hiccup. When Hiccup arrived, there was a ring of fire around Viggo's tent.

 _Wow, this is working WAY better than I thought it would,_ Hiccup thought.

As he descended upon the tent, Hiccup took one last glance at his surroundings. Chaos was the scene for sure, with Hunters firing blindly into the sky. Thanks to the time of the attack, and the speed of all their dragons, no one was hitting their mark, except for the riders.

 _Now it's my turn_.

Hiccup landed and ran into the center tent with Toothless following. No one was there to greet him, to Hiccup's surprise.

"Well, no welcoming party makes our jobs easier." Hiccup remarked to Toothless.

He began the search for the Dragon Eye, checking desk drawers, shelves, chests, and random piles altogether, but to no avail.

"It's gotta be in here somewhere bud."

But nothing was found. Even in his diligence, Hiccup knew when it was time to go, but something wasn't right. He had subconsciously blocked out the sound of explosions to focus on his search inside the tent, but now that he listened closely: nothing.

 _Oh no._ Hiccup worried, _They've been captured_.

Hiccup got on Toothless preemptively, ready to fly straight through the roof and blast his way off of the island.

"Get ready for a fight bud. This won't be easy." Hiccup warned his scaly companion.

"Hiccup Haddock, if I were you, I'd come out nice and slow." A gruff voice commanded.

 _Here we go_. Hiccup prepared himself as Toothless walked out of the tent with Hiccup on his back.

But nothing could prepare Hiccup for the horrors that laid in front of him. Dragons, dead on the ground, filled with arrows. Riders sliced open, bleeding out near their deceased steeds.

"You see my dear boy, I figured your dragons wouldn't listen to me even if I did get them. So I thought, let's not waste all of our Dragonroot arrows and just go back to the old ways." A smoother, more sinister voice explained.

"Viggo… Ryker… How could you…" Hiccup choked out.

Hiccup couldn't believe his eyes. He had seen the casualties of war during dragon raids, but never had he been so affected by the sight of gore. Hiccup felt like passing out, if it weren't for a feeling of rage brewing in his stomach.

"Oh Hiccup, you must learn that people are expendable. What better way than to see your team destroyed right before your eyes?"

"This isn't… We never wanted-" Hiccup began

"No one ever wants to lose," Viggo interrupted, "Some just have to take their loses, and make something of it. Now, your team lay dead at your feet, but this is the after results. How do you deal with losing them right before your eyes?"

 _No_

Ryker pulled a blonde haired Viking from behind him. She was bound and gagged and bruised and bloodied and crying.

"No…" Hiccup muttered.

"Watch closely brother." Viggo directed at Ryker as he pulled out a dagger. "We are about to see a transformation in the young chief."

"Please don't" Hiccup begged, tears brimming at his eyes.

"Oh my dear Hiccup, pleading gets you nowhere in life." Viggo commented striding over to the girl.

"Viggo, don't do this to her, I… I love her!" Hiccup confessed.

"And that's another thing!" Viggo snapped, placing his dagger at her throat. "People are expendable, I've told you that many times, but the one thing I haven't told you is this: There is no place in this world for love."

The next moments appeared in slow motion to Hiccup. He could see Viggo's arm muscle begin to tense. Hiccup could only reach out his hand uselessly and cry for the one he loved as Viggo's arm began to move. He could see the fear in her eyes as the blade made contact with her neck and then…

"AH! what the?" Hiccup screamed. He was breathing heavily and sweating profusely, but no longer in the hell that was in his head. Just in a hut at a wrecked island.

It was still dark out. The sun was still at least 3 hours away, but Hiccup did not want to go back to sleep

"Well, guess it's time to start the day." Hiccup muttered.

It was definitely the worst sleep he'd ever had, but he had never been more thankful that it was all just a nightmare.


	2. Cleanup on Isle Edge

When Astrid woke up the sun had fully appeared over the horizon.

"Whew, I was more exhausted than I thought girl." She remarked to her dragon.

Normally Astrid would have been awake at first light, but anyone would have given her a pass after yesterday's events.

 _Time to fix this place, AGAIN._ Astrid thought, _Tuff was right about one thing. We do a LOT of rebuilding here._

She made her way to the clubhouse to see if Hiccup was ready to give out an assignment, but stopped along the way as a black dragon flew over her head.

 _Looks like someone got a good night's rest_ , she smiled, not knowing the real reason yet for Hiccup's early start.

Hiccup landed near the arena and picked up the last debris to clear out.

 _Wait… Where's all the debris?_ Astrid asked herself, _How long has Hiccup been at this?_

As Hiccup took off again, Astrid climbed on Stormfly to intercept him, but Hiccup must have seen her coming as he had Toothless fly in the opposite direction. Even with the extra weight of the debris, Toothless was still the faster dragon.

 _Damn that stubborn Viking._ Astrid cursed. _Never makes things easy._

Astrid decided to do like Hiccup and just assign herself a task to get the Edge cleaned up quicker, because it seemed that Hiccup probably wouldn't talk to anyone today.

 _On the bright side, it gives me time to get the other riders together._ Astrid thought about her plan.

Astrid first began to clean her own hut, or what she didn't fix yesterday. Astrid then assigned herself the task of getting the new wood for the actual rebuilding portion of their project. She also needed more Ballista ammo as most of it had been used or destroyed.

 _Never a free day._ Astrid mused.

Astrid definitely was right, there was always work to be done on the Edge, and this really wasn't too different, but a free day would be nice every once and awhile.

"Now that's a good idea." Astrid remarked, "I could probably add that to my plan."

Maybe a day off would help everyone clear their minds, though Snotlout and the twins never took something like this as hard as Hiccup, but on the other hand, they would also like any reason for a day off.

"That's how I'll get the others on board I guess Stormfly." Astrid added.

She received a squawk from her dragon as the made their way into the forest to look for supplies for rebuilding.

With as much rebuilding as they had done, the riders had barely made a dent in the number of trees, which Astrid was thankful for, seeing as she wanted quality wood to remake her ballista.

"The stronger birch is up ahead Stormfly" Astrid said as she guided her dragon toward the northern side of the island.

As they approached the birch forest, Astrid noticed a small clearing with fresh stumps and several large piled logs around the edges.

"What the… Who has been cutting these trees down?" Astrid asked.

Her answer was given again by the fleeting wail of a flying Night Fury.

Astrid was fed up, "Ok, that's it Stormfly, we're gonna fly until we catch up to Hiccup. At this rate, I don't think he got any sleep at all."

The ballista would have to wait. Her friend needed a clear head. It wouldn't be easy getting Hiccup to talk, but she definitely wasn't in the mood for Hiccup's usual avoidance yakshit.

Stormfly took to the skies, higher than normal altitude to get an overview of the island. From this vantage point, Astrid was able to see the whole island and barely make out a black speck on the southern side of the island.

 _Gods he's already across the island? What in Thor's name is he doing?_ Astrid worried.

"Let's go girl" she ordered.

Stormfly did a power dive to gain the most speed she could, leveling off at a height where Astrid could still get a decent view from above. She was closing in fast, and definitely needed a plan, otherwise Hiccup would surely noticed her coming and probably fly off again.

"Let's go in low and quietly, girl." Astrid suggested.

Toothless had landed in a small cove that the riders used for their building waste. Hiccup had most likely been there many times this morning to drop of all of the debris from the Edge he had picked up.

Stormfly and Astrid had gotten below the tree line when Hiccup dismounted Toothless and were beginning their stealthy approach to the cove.

"Alright bud, that's most of the debris cleaned up, disposed of, AND their replacements cut down and ready. We should be done before breakfast at this rate." Hiccup remarked.

Toothless wasn't having any of it though. Hiccup had been working him to the bone, and as much as Toothless loved his rider, a little consideration towards how tired the dragon would be after all this work. The dragon decided NOT to inform his rider of his approaching friends.

Astrid had just cleared the edge of the tree line surrounding the cove. There he was, organizing all the garbage of all things. It seemed like Hiccup didn't notice, nor did Toothless. Astrid needed to keep her silence until she could get even closer, otherwise Hiccup would just fly away again. It aggravated Astrid to no end how he could just act like this without thinking about how worried she was. She couldn't believe that he would avoid her all day. Why did Hiccup make he so mad?

"HICCUP HADDOCK!" _So much for silence_. "YOU CAN'T RUN FROM ME NOW!"

The voice sent chills down Hiccup's spine. Not many people walked away from a screaming, angry Astrid in one piece.

 _Oh gods, what did I do?_ "Toothless! We gotta go bud."

But Toothless did not budge. He only sent his rider a passing glance of ignorance and snorted as he rested on the ground.

"Wha- Now? Now of all times you're gonna ignore me?" Hiccup inquired.

As he glanced towards the source he could only cower and hold his hand to try to stop her.

 _This is gonna hurt a LOT_. "Astrid, heh, Hi! Fancy seeing you he-" Was all HIccup could get out before Astrid knocked him to the ground.

"Gah! What was that for!?" Hiccup asked out of habit, held to the ground by Astrid's foot.

But he didn't have much else to say when he saw that she also had her axe in hand. While not pointed at Hiccup _yet_ , it was always good to hold one's tongue when she had her weapon.

"You've been avoiding me all day." Astrid accused.

"I have not! I've been busy cleaning up the edge. I knew I'd have to do more work since I couldn't rely on Snotlout or the Twins to pull as much weight." Hiccup defended.

"Hiccup, you've done enough work for all of us, just how long have you been at this? It's ridiculous!"

"I don't know, couple of hours maybe? What do you think bud?" Hiccup directed at Toothless, who only returned a glare and silence.

"See? Even Toothless thinks you've gone crazy. You've got to give it a rest and let us help you with the Edge. Not everything is yours to solve alone."

"Astrid, I didn't tell anyone NOT to help me, I just started early and continued working, I mean, you're up early too you know. You probably would have started without anyone asking."

"Actually Hiccup, the first thing I had in mind was asking YOU what needed to be done. Even though I do have my own agenda of stuff I need, I know that you need us to work together. After all, you did say you rely on me." Astrid blushed slightly.

"We all make mistakes." Hiccup sardonically remarked. _Oh shit, what did I just say, and why?_

"Excuse me?"

Now the axe was at his throat.

"Uh.. I didn't… say anything at… all."

Hiccup on received daggers from Astrid's eyes.

"Astird… I… I don't know why…. why I said that. I'm sorry." Hiccup confessed.

He had done it now. He closed his eyes waiting for any sort of pain to come, but instead he only felt Astrid remove her foot from his chest. When he opened his eye, he saw her standing a few feet away, facing the forest.

"Astrid? Look, I didn't mean it. You're right, I've been up so long that I talk nonsense."

"No Hiccup, you're right. You trusted me and I didn't tell you anything and it almost got Heather killed." Her voice broke.

"Hey, there were plenty of things I didn't tell you back in the day, like Toothless." He put his hand on her shoulder, "And think about this: If you hadn't told me about Heather, then we wouldn't have known about Viggo or saving Heather when she was in trouble for that matter."

Astrid turned to face Hiccup, but looked at the ground, "Look, Hiccup, I want to think that but knowing you all these years, I know that if you keep something from me, it's for the good of everyone. Besides, you don't really keep too many secrets. I just wish I'd told you about Heather earlier, then we could have stopped yesterday from happening altogether."

"Astrid, I… I don't actually tell everyone everything a lot. I never tell anyone what bothers me or how it affects me because I may think it would affect the group, but sometimes I just gets in the way of my judgment."

Astrid only raised her eyes to look at Hiccup.

Hiccup confessed, "Since you're here, and I kinda started this, I guess it's time to be honest: The reason why the Heather situation bothered me is because we had gotten so close of this past year. All of us. It was just like old times before we defeated Dagur four years ago. And now that we've grown up, I was really happy to see how we had all matured and everything was going great. I guess my biggest problem was that it felt like it was causing us to fall apart, and I don't want that Astrid."

That was partly the truth. Hiccup would almost certainly never tell Astrid that it made him feel that she didn't like him. Every 'we' and 'us' in his previous sentence was partly devoted to just him and Astrid.

"I don't want that either Hiccup. I'd like to stay with you as long as possible. I mean the riders… Yeah the group, y'know." Astrid stuttered.

"I can see that now Astrid and I've gotten over it. I promise. I guess my lack of sleep is just making me think all sorts of crazy stuff."

"Told you." Astrid teased.

"You hear that Toothless? I'm crazy, tired, and sorry. Is that enough to get your attention?" Hiccup joked.

Toothless only rolled his eyes and swatted Hiccup down with his tail, laughing at his grounded Rider.

"Well, it looks like someone forgives you." Astrid smiled.

"Yeah, well the tail could have been a little less powerful."

Astrid helped Hiccup up.

"Woah." Hiccup commented.

"What?"

"I just got some major Deja vu."

"Huh?"

"Astrid, do you remember the last time we were in a cove and you were mad at me and I was on the ground at the edge of your axe?"

"OH!"

That caught Astrid off guard. She hadn't thought about that moment in a long time. Especially since it was when she started have feelings for Hiccup. Feelings that she could never really express due to a wall built by her warrior persona. Feelings that had only resurfaced more intensely in the past year at the Edge. What would Hiccup think of her now though?

"Yeah. I can't believe it's been four years since I first met Toothless." Astrid nervously laughed.

It was best to hide them. She only told Heather they were friends because Hiccup was too _perfect_ for someone as messed up as Astrid. He was smart, a great leader, cute, calm, and a great friend. He would never go for someone like her.

"Yeah, except It was at the end of the day, not the beginning, so some differences here and there." Hiccup recalled.

"And you didn't kidnap me this time?" Astrid reminded.

"Hey, greater good. You said it. Besides, did you not like the ride on Toothless?"

"I could have done without the first minute Of aerial acrobatics, well, then. Now? maybe."

"Oh, right. Maybe his craziness rubbed off on me."

Toothless snorted at the idea.

"That was definitely the craziest day of my life. I got chosen to kill the nightmare, I tried to run away, you caught me, I 'caught' you, we found the Red Death, you *ahem* kissed me…"

Both teens were blushing, but they were both too embarrassed to look at each other and notice.

"Right!" Hiccup broke the awkward silence, "So not everything was the same in this situation, uh, why don't we head back so I can _properly_ go about running this place. Well, if Toothless is satisfied with my acceptance of being dumb today."

Toothless gave a happy roar in reply. At least they'd take it easier.

"Sounds like a plan, dragon boy." Astrid agreed.

"Oh, and Astrid?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

Her heart melted just a little. Who cares if feelings weren't for warriors? She'd follow Hiccup to the ends of the earth. But how to tell him?


	3. Leftovers

When Hiccup and Astrid returned to the Edge clubhouse, only Fishlegs was awaiting them.

"Morning Fishlegs." Hiccup greeted.

"Oh hey Hiccup. What happened to all the debris? I thought we were gonna clean up the Edge today."

"Oh yeah, well I sorta… Y'know, did most of it myself."

Fishlegs only raised an eyebrow at him.

"He didn't get sleep and went crazy, like usual." Astrid added.

"Ah, yes. Classic Hiccup." Fishlegs kidded.

"Oh wow, thanks for the love guys." Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on Hiccup, of all people on the Edge to say these things, we are the nicest about them." Fishlegs joked.

"Oh that's reassuring." Hiccup quipped.

"Speaking of _others_ , have you seen Snotlout or the twins yet?" Astrid asked to Fishlegs.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they stay in until lunch." Fishlegs shook his head.

"Well it's a good thing we don't have much left to do. We can get it done before we even need them." Hiccup assured.

"Uh, hold on Hiccup, I'm all for not letting them screw up progress, but I think that we should at least make them do something to help. Besides, you've done enough for one day."

"Look Astrid, I just want to get it off my mind so we can focus on getting the Dragon eye back, ok?"

"Then leave it to us to clean up while you take time to rest and think." Astrid argued.

"I'm with Astrid, Hiccup. You need to be on top of your game if we want to beat the Hunters. We'll handle Snotlout and the twins as well as what's leftover to clean up." Fishlegs agreed.

"Ok, but what about the rebuilding? Wouldn't it be nice to have someone oversee the whole operation?" Hiccup asked.

"Hiccup, we all had a part in building the Edge, so we all know what goes where. We are a team, we can communicate, and we don't need Princess Hiccup being all cranky due to lack of sleep while we fix everything."

"But-" Hiccup started.

"No 'buts'. If I even _hear_ you around the Edge, I will take your leg."

"Now that's not fair As-"

"ALL of you legs. And your precious Night Fury too."

"Ok, that's going too far. You can strip a one legged Viking of all his spare legs, and his dignity, but you dare not take his dragon."

"Then I guess you better take it easy." Astrid smirked.

After the earlier confrontation, Hiccup didn't want to chance it. Usually Astrid would let him off easy because they were great friends, but if it came to Hiccup's well being, she usually meant all of her threats.

"Fine." Hiccup conceded. "I'll stay _around_ my hut."

Hiccup had to at least have access to his tool set outside his hut. Making things usually stoked the fires of his mind. Maybe he'd create a new secret leg that Astrid wouldn't know about and steal.

"Well, if you need me…"

"We won't."

"Thanks Astrid… I'll be at my forge."

Hiccup walked out with Toothless in tow. It was only a quick walk to his hut, so there was no need to fly over there, especially after he had worked Toothless non-stop with little sleep.

"So I'm assuming you're up to something." Fishlegs began once Hiccup was out of earshot.

"First off: How did you know. and second: Creepy."

"Oh come on Astrid, you were pretty eager to get Hiccup to be away from the group. The only time you usually do that is if you join him on the away part." Fishlegs smirked.

Astrid's face turned bright red.

"What? I do not, and you should be as concerned as I was for Hiccup. He was actively avoiding me this morning. And I wasn't trying to hurt him or anything." she defended.

"Look, I'm concerned too Astrid, but it's just something that Hiccup will get over like he usually does. He was probably embarrassed about the whole situation and just didn't wanna talk about it."

"That's not all Fishlegs. I think he didn't get any sleep at all..." Her voice showed even more concern.

"What makes you say that?"

"Just look at all the work done here Fish!" Astrid snapped, "Do you think he did this in the one hour of sunlight we've had? And the bags under his eyes? Don't tell me you didn't see those!"

"I did, but no one really got that much sleep Astrid. We got in at midnight, and, like he usually does, Hiccup had a lot on his mind so he probably didn't go to sleep immediately."

"And all the work he's done?" Astrid reiterated sharply.

Fishlegs couldn't escape that fact. Fishlegs' sleep was interrupted by Hiccup and Toothless lifting misplaced rocks out of their rock garden. But when Fishlegs went to the door he only saw them leaving. At the time, sun had not yet risen, but the faint orange glow on the horizon was announcing its near arrival. Fishlegs only wrote it off as Hiccup using those rocks for catapults and base supports and didn't think twice about it, especially due to the time.

"Ok, so maybe he's been working a lot this morning. And maybe I don't want to think that Hiccup is taking this harder than he should." Fishlegs admitted.

"As long as you see it, we can do something about it." Astrid nodded.

"So this plan you had?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Astrid began to smile. "Here's the short version: We work hard, get everything done by lunch, and take the rest of the day off at the beaches."

"Oh a day off would be great!" Fishlegs agreed. "In fact that will probably get the other riders to work seriously."

"Exactly. The quicker we get done, the quicker we can take it easy."

"Wait, but why are we keeping this a secret from Hiccup? Wouldn't he like to know?" Fishlegs questioned.

"Well, here's the long version. It's supposed to be a surprise for Hiccup. Let him know that we appreciate him as our leader. The past few weeks have been tough on him, what with most of his plans going wrong. I think he needs to be reminded that, even through his failures, no one will think of him as Hiccup the Useless anymore."

"And where's the part where we show this to Hiccup?" Fishlegs raised an eyebrow.

"I was getting there." Astrid snapped. "Not only will it be a beach party, but we will camp out as well, and share our favorite stories of Hiccup. Sort of like an early birthday party. It's all for him."

"I like that idea. Meatlug loves the beaches. And I'm pretty sure Snotlout and the twins will do anything for a free day."

"Yeah if they ever wake up."

"Who's they?" Ruffnut said as he entered the clubhouse.

"Whocares? They always ruin everything anyway." Tuffnut followed

Astrid was surprised, "Wow, you guys are up early!"

"Hey, we can be up early!" Ruffnut argued.

"Yeah we're always up early- wait. What time is it?" Tuffnut added.

Astrid sighed. "Well since you up early, we'll tell you now."

Astrid repeated her plan to the twins as easily as she could so even they could follow, but as usual the twins proved more difficult to explain to than Astrid had hoped.

"So lemme get this straight, we work, and then take the rest of the day off. How is that different from any other day?" Tuff asked.

"Because we're gonna be done by lunch AND it's a surprise party for Hiccup." Astrid stressed.

"But it's not Hiccup's birthday, is it?"

"No." Astrid sighed.

"Then why does Hiccup get the party? Why can't I ever be surprised?"

THWACK

"OW" Tuffnut cried Holding his shoulder.

"Surprise!" Ruffnut chimed

"Guys!" Astrid exclaimed, "look, Hiccup has been in a pretty sore spot with all his ideas not going so well lately and I think it's up to us to cheer him up again. Also it would be nice to thank him for doing 90% of the work this morning."

"Woah. He did all that work already? Why not finish it?" Tuffnut asked.

"Because it's not his job to fix everything!" Astrid explained.

"Yeah, but he was so close, y'know, why not just pick up the remaining pieces? I mean, what stopped him?"

Astrid only glared at Tuffnut for his comments.

"And why would you stop him?" Tuff continued.

"Because he's been overworked and didn't get any sleep last night!" Astrid finally snapped.

The twins were silent over the outbreak until Ruffnut finally broke it.

"What caused him to lose sleep?" There was a hint of concern in her voice.

"Yeah and how? I mean, I was so exhausted last night I'm surprised I woke up at all." Tuffnut rudely interjected.

"It's about Viggo. And just the recent events. With all of Hiccup's plans going the way they have, he hasn't been feeling right in his head."

"But what does he have to worry about? So one plan doesn't go right? None of my plans ever work." Tuffnut stated.

"Because he's worried that we don't want him as our leader anymore, he's afraid people think he's useless, he's scared of losing us…" Astrid counted on her fingers. "Choose any: we need to support him."

That shut the twins up.

"I'll take your silence as you agreeing with me. Now all we need is to tell Snotlout and finish the work." Astrid said.

"Speaking of, what's all left to do?" Fishlegs asked.

"We still have a little bit of the debris from the clubhouse supports to clear out, then moving the cut down wood back for any no immediate rebuilding tomorrow."

"Non-immediate?" Tuffnut questioned.

"Some of the supports are damaged but not enough to be needed to repair today. Some, however, have to be replaced today otherwise the clubhouse and any other place may collapse. Things like stairs will be done later since we have dragons to fly us everywhere."

"And how many are immediate?"

"We'll have to find that out actually. Obviously the one's that are completely missing sections are in that category."

"Ok, sounds like a plan!" Fishlegs excitedly agreed. "Astrid, why don't you talk to Snotlout while I start the surveying of the broken supports."

"Right, Ruff, Tuff, can you guys clear out any of the leftover debris?" Astrid added.

"Yeah we can do that." Tuff complied, "But what about bringing the logs in for rebuilding?"

"That'll be Snotlout's and my job I guess." Astrid quickly replied, not wanting another Twins-carrying-lumber incident.

"Ok I guess we got a plan then. The quicker we get it done, the quicker we get to our relaxation." Fishlegs stated.

The riders departed for their jobs. Everyone seemed like they were ready for a break. Astrid's plan was quickly gaining speed. Now for the last convincing.

 _Oh boy, let's just get this over with._ Astrid thought as she stood outside of Snotlout's hut.

Astrid knocked twice but received no response.

"I can't believe he's still asleep." Astrid huffed under her breath. "Snotlout, wake up! It's time to get to work!"

Groans emanated from inside his hut, followed with crashing and a few Viking-like words.

"What's going on!" Snotlout called out as he opened his hut door. "Oh, hey Astrid how's it goin? What brings you to this side of the Edge." He added with a wink when he noticed the messenger.

"Ugh," Astrid groaned, "Look, get ready and get out here in five, got it?"

"Well, I'd really love to Astrid, really, but as you can see, I have no idea where anything is in my hut."

Astrid looked over the stocky vikings shoulder to see the most orderly hut in all of the Edge.

"Uh, Snotlout, your place looks pristine. How can you NOT find anything?"

"Uh, Astrid, it's not in Snot's order, duh." He rolled his eyes. "Those dirty Hunters must've organized my hut. How dare they! But if you like it, you can stay here tonight and help me figure out where everything is." He raised his eyebrows.

"Five minutes or I get my axe." Astrid flatly stated, amused as she ever was with Snotlout's advances (not at all).

"Heh, right." Snotlout answered nervously as he shut his door.

 _This is worth it Astrid_. She drove herself on. _It's all for Hiccup_.

Astrid cast a glance towards Hiccup's hut. She could tell the forge was on due to the smoke rising from his hut.

 _At least someone understands what I tell them_.

"Alright Astrid let's go. I'm tired and need my beauty rest!" Snotlout complained.

"Well do I have have some good news Snotlout. Follow me" Astrid smirked as they took off to the forest.


End file.
